A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

brachialis,-e (adj.B):

1. brachial, of or relating to an arm or brachium [> L. brachium,-ii (s.n.II), q.v., the forearm (following Jackson); classically, the whole arm]; see cubitus,-i (s.m.II).

2. “an ell long; twenty-four inches [two feet] long” (Lindley); arm-long, i.e. 2 feet, 24 inches (65 cm.) long = the Brachium,-ii (s.n.II), q.v.;

NOTE: the English word ‘ell’ in some texts may represent both the ‘ulna,-ae’ (s.f.I), and the brachium,-ii (s.n.II), = 2 feet (24 inches), but the cubitus,-i (s.m.II), q.v. is only one foot and a half (18 inches). The ‘ell’ is usually accepted as the length of the cubitus,-i (s.m.II).

NOTE: see ‘brachium,-ii (s.n.II) for Jackson’s suggestion that the brachialis,-e (adj.B) = the cubit, or 18 inches.

- non vulgaris est planta, quae radicem habet crassissimam & longissimam: nam brachialis crassitudinis, & cubitalis longitudinis, aut etiam ampliores accipere meminit Clusius ab Ill. Dn. Balthasare de Batthyan (Ray), the plant is not common, which has a very thick and long root: for Clusius recalls he learned it to be a brachial [i.e. 24 inches or 2 feet] of thickness and a cubital [i.e. 18 inches] of length, or even larger from the celebrated Lord Balthasare of Batthyan [Boldizsar Batthyany].